


And the Rain Enveloped the Town

by melanchole



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Adult Losers, Angst, Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, It Gets Worse, M/M, POV Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is a Mess, back to neibolt, no eddie doesnt come back to life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-28 23:10:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21144785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melanchole/pseuds/melanchole
Summary: Two years after the Losers Club put an end to the still sempiternal enigma that is Pennywise, Richie Tozier begins to reminisce the days of the past, recalling one particular memory he would much rather forget. And though the rest of the Losers have moved on, Richie still has a certain ache in him he can’t shake off. After a grueling process of repressing past memories, he decides that there’s one thing he still needs to do. He needs to get Eddie out of that god forsaken house.





	And the Rain Enveloped the Town

Richie stood in front of a window, watching the rain envelope the city. He watched as people ran to reach whatever shelter was available for the time being, and wondered if they knew not to run in the rain. As a matter of fact—but not as the thought presented itself in the moment—running leaves you more drenched rather than if you had just walked patiently.

_ Is this something people know but have forgotten entirely? _ he wondered. _ Or did people just not know? _The thought of it, much to his surprise, bothered him greatly. Why is it that people forget? What makes it okay to not remember something that important? Did these people experience something in the rain that made them forget?

Of course people running or walking in the rain and remembering or forgetting to do the latter instead of the former wasn’t what truly distressed him. And in any case, it wasn’t as if he was good at remembering either. For the past two years, a sinking feeling has been resting deep in his gut. Richie could never quite explain it, and he’d almost always forget it was there, but once its presence slowly creeps back into his attention, reeling under his skin, the sensation that washes over him always ends up being more grueling than the one before. And here’s the catch, he doesn’t know why. All he knows is that it’s there in its ever-looming suspense, threatening to creep up on him at the most inconvenient times. And if it weren’t for the incessant ringing of the telephone, the same crippling sensation could have washed over him again. There was something about people running or walking in the rain and remembering or forgetting that bothered Richie.

“Hello?” he asked inquiringly after letting out a cough to clear his throat. 

“Hey, Rich, it’s Mike.” Hearing that name gave him a sense of comfort and fear altogether. Mike’s tone felt eerily too familiar for his liking.

“Oh,” he replies. “Mike—uh, what’s up?”

“Just checking up on how you are,” he replies almost too nonchalantly. “How’s Los Angeles?”

“It’s great. It’s raining pretty hard right now, so there’s not much to do.” Richie looked out at the window once more and caught a glimpse of a couple teenagers running around in the rain. 

* * *

_ “RICHIE! YOU BETTER FUCKING COME BACK!” Stanley yelled at him, running in the rain. Richie had stolen his bike and rode off with the others, their laughter being drowned out by the drops of rain plopping on the concrete. Richie had broken his bike recently, so he thought it would be okay to borrow Stan’s for a little bit. And maybe give it back tomorrow when the rain stops. “YOU KNOW I HATE GETTING DRENCHED.” _

_ “Sorry, Stan. You snooze, you lose!” Richie yelled, flipping him off as he zoomed farther. This was another one of Richie’s mischiefs, and normally he would have pushed through without letting out, but the sound of Stan running desperately in the rain made him stop. The rest of the Losers stopped and turned to watch Stanley run in the rain. _

_ “Don’t run in the rain, fucknut! You’ll get more wet!” Richie called out. _

_ “SHUT THE FUCK UP, RICHIE!” Stan yelled, running faster. “AND THAT’S NOT TRUE!” _

_ Mike looked around at them before calling out to Stan. “He’s actually right,” he says. Mike wasn’t wrong, and the rest of the Losers knew that for a fact. They always trusted anything he had to say. _

_ “NOT HELPING.” Stan finally caught up to the group as they stood, getting drenched in the rain. The curly haired boy stared at Richie in utter annoyance as the rest of the Losers tried to stifle a laugh. _

_ “I’m gonna fucking kill you, Richie.” _

_ Beverly got off her bike and put an arm around Stan. “Loosen up, Uris,” she says. “We’re okay. We’re all drenched in rain anyway.” _

_ “Y–yeah, we are,” Bill added, climbing off his bike and jumping into a puddle, splashing water into the others which caught majority of them by surprise. _

_ “BILL!” Stan yelled, staring at him in disbelief. “Wh—” _

_ The rest of the Losers joined in on Bill’s fun, except for one overly cautious Loser. Richie had been watching him carefully and knew he’d be a little bothered but get taken in the moment and join in anyway. Even then, Richie called him, even almost pulling him close, telling him to join in on the fun. There wasn’t much they could do anyway. Whatever they do and wherever they go, they’re still drenched. _

_ “Guys, c’mon this is so unsanitary. If my mom sees me come home like this, she is going to freak the fuck ou—” _

* * *

Mike’s voice snapped Richie back to the present. He realised the kids weren’t on the street anymore and instead were under a parasol from the outside dining of a cafe. Richie and his friends wouldn’t have hidden from the rain. In fact, they would have stared up at the sky and scream at the rain to fuck off. A sense of gloominess washed over him as he recalled small bits and pieces of their past, but there was one missing fragment, and Richie couldn’t seem to put the puzzle pieces together on that one. This missing fragment didn’t allow for the memory to be completed, and it left him feeling dejected. It seemed he had forgotten quite a bit of what happened.

“Richie, you still there?”

He blinked a couple times before actually replying.

“Yeah,” he says, coming back to his senses. “No, yeah, I’m here.”

Mike let out a deep sigh. He knew something was up, he just didn’t want to subject Richie to a sudden downpour of remembering what had happened two years ago.

“I’ll ask you again, Rich,” Mike started. “Are you okay?”

He hesitated. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he finally said.

Mike stayed quiet for a few seconds, trying to find the perfect time to say something or to at least mention that it’s been two years and he wants to know how Richie is actually doing. He knows the events of two years ago did something to Richie, he knew it left a bitter taste in him. And he knew that every bit of bitterness felt for the town of Derry leaves you at the cost of forgetting even the most influential part of your life. 

“Richie,” Mike started after a while. “Listen, as you know it’s been two—”

“Years. Yeah, it’s been two years. I know.”

“Yeah, two years since—”

“Stanley died,” Richie finished yet again.

“And since—”

“We killed that goddamn clown.” Richie’s knees stiffened, his body tense. The sensation slowly started creeping up again. He couldn’t exactly understand why, but it was probably the fact that the Ritual of Chüd happened and the traumatic experiences that came prior. It was probably the fact that he had come face to face with and stared right into the Deadlights. Everything he feared had come to his realisation, and it was because of the terror that had stricken them as kids.

“Mike, I really don’t know why we have to go through this again.”

“Because you’re missing something, Rich.”

Richie forced out a laugh to alleviate the current situation.

“Did you, uh, did you call the other about this too?”

“Yeah, I did. I had to, Richie. What we went through was terrifying to say the least.”

“How are the others?”

“Richie…” Mike trailed. “Stop.”

Richie grit his teeth, trying to stop the creeping from crawling through his skin. “_ How are the others, Mike? _” he asked again.

“Ben and Bev are good. They’re in Europe for their anniversary. Bill’s trying to finish his new book which is lined up to be in film production soon.”

“And Eddie?”

And almost immediately there was a silence. It was as if the rain of the city had enveloped and clouded over them, drowning everything out in the sound of the loud pitter-patter of rain against the window. Richie was more confused than ever that Mike was taking so long to reply. What happened to Eddie? Did he get into an accident? He’s a risk analyst. He can’t have.

Right?

* * *

_ “Please tell me you ended up becoming a doctor, Eds,” Beverly said, looking at him lovingly. She just knew that Eddie would have ended up being a doctor knowing how he was so particular about his health and keeping clean. Although, it was mostly his mother that made him that way. But nevertheless, it seemed fitting that he would become one. _

_ “No, uh, I ended up becoming a risk analyst,” he said as-a-matter-factly, taking a sip from his beer as he looked at the rest of the losers. Eddie quite liked what he did. He was always quite anal about things, and his job sort of became a way to be able to organise himself and ensure the safety of everyone.__  
_ _“Oh that sounds really interesting. So, what does that entail?” Richie chimed in, crossing his arms over the other, looking at Eddie interestingly. And though he really wanted to learn about what Eddie was doing, he felt the sudden urge to piss him the hell off. He liked annoying Eddie._

_ Eddie perked up excitedly at the fact that the guy he’s liked for almost 30 years wanted to know what he did, and so tell him he did. “Yeah, so, I work for like, a big insurance firm, and—” And with that, Richie pretended to snooze off. He snored, hanging his head off his shoulders. Bev, Ben, Mike, and Bill looked at each other, trying not to laugh, but Bill gave out. Richie snored himself back to waking up and looked around the table, pretending to not be aware of what was happening. _

_ Eddie looked at him disappointedly, but he wasn’t exactly surprised. “Oh, fuck you, dude,” he said pointblank, staring Richie down. Everyone around the table succumbed to a chorus of laughter, and suddenly everything happening to them felt slightly less insane. _

* * *

“Homeschool, what the fuck? Say something,” Richie snaps back to the present. He wasn’t exactly comforted by the silence exhibited by his friend. His fingers wrapped themselves tighter and tighter around the phone, his other hand fiddling with the telephone cord. He felt his neck tighten around his throat, his skin feeling too tight on his own body. The sinking feeling crawled its way higher towards his throat, as it left the other part of his body feeling too heavy to carry. This sensation took up so much of his senses he hadn’t realised Mike’s breathing changed, and he didn’t hear Mike’s lips release small cries.

“Rich…” Mike trailed through the phone. Mike started trying to push words out of his mouth, making the words sound like an uncoordinated, poorly choreographed dance. “Jesus, Rich.”

“Mike, please,” he said quietly. And in the silence that fell over them, Mike heard Richie’s voice ring through which made him realise that maybe Pennywise’s influence is still affecting a part of them. The eerie noise started getting louder and louder, the patter of rain more defined. “How is Eddie?”

“He died two years ago.”


End file.
